CA State Photographic Album 4

Metadata

Title

Alternative Title

Featuring California Youth Authority facilities such as the Preston School of Industry, Ventura School for Girls, and Whittier State School

Created Date

Circa 1930

Description

This album includes photographs, circa 1930, of California Youth Authority facilities such as the Preston School of Industry, Ventura School for Girls, and Whittier State School. Whittier opened in 1891, Preston opened in 1892, and Ventura opened in 1913. This photo album includes records that are significant because they help to inform researchers about California's programs established to rehabilitate and train youths and about the conditions under which the youths were housed. The photographs in this album show the institutions' buildings and the surrounding grounds and farms, circa 1930. Many of the buildings in these photographs have been razed and Preston and Whittier have been closed. The album shows the major buildings but may also include the only known images of many minor structures which may no longer exist today. The album also contains images of state-owned land and equipment and includes statistics about state properties such as information on construction, dates, dimensions, and additions. According to State Archivist J.N. Bowman in 1955, no other state had been found with such a complete series of pictures of its buildings within such a restricted time-period. California Youth Authority records are of high interest to researchers, and the time period that these particular records cover is significant because it is during the Great Depression, which caused an increase in the number of inmates committed to state reform schools. In addition, because the records are Department of Finance records, one can assume that the state agencies featured in the photographs would want to look their best as they justified their existence and fought for their share of funds from the state budget.

Creators and Contributors

Creator: California. Department of Finance

Subject Topic

Depressions--1929--California
California Youth Authority

Subject Entity

Preston School of Industry (Ione, Calif.)
Whittier State School (Whittier, Calif.)
California Youth Authority

Spatial Coverage

California
Ione (Calif.)
Whittier (Calif.)

Temporal Coverage

1930 1929 to 1941